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DAYTONA BEACH - The largest hotel management group in Daytona Beach, Bray and Gillespie, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Friday morning in U.S. District Court at Jacksonville. The company operates 24 hotels in the Daytona Beach area, mostly along the beach front

Bray and Gillespie, Inc. doing business as Ocean Waters Development Inc., petitioned the court for Chapter 11 relief. Chapter 11 Bankruptcy procedures allows a debtor to stop paying its debts while reorganizing. The bankruptcy filing affects 79 affiliated properties and includes over $415 million in debt, with New York law firm Anderson Kill & Olick alone owed about $2 million.

According to Volusia County records, several mortgage holders have also separately begun foreclosure proceedings against the partners, including the creditor that financed Ocean Waters' headquarters building at Atlantic Avenue and Oak Ridge Boulevard.Bray and Gillespie are also one of the largest real estate developers in the area and have undertaken a number of condominium projects in recent years. They have often been recipients of Daytona Beach City Government largesse thanks to their vast influence with the city's public officials.

Bray and Gillespie are some of the largest campaign financers in Daytona Beach politics, an investment that has paid handsomely in the past with very generous zoning designations not normally available to other developers. These zoning grants were instrumental in B&G's success and gave them hundreds of millions of dollars in profits in past years, often by flipping these properties without even breaking ground.

The sharp decay of Daytona Beach as a viable destination for business or tourism was compounded by the current economic recession and contributed to the failure of the company, once though to be indestructible.

Since 1988, Daytona Beach-based Bray & Gillespie had been involved in more than 100 individual hotel transactions. Their holdings include almost a mile of oceanfront property in Daytona Beach.

Reading from their own 2005 press release we catch a gleam of their flipping strategy:

Traditionally, developers acquire oceanfront hotels, hold them, renovate them if necessary and then operate them at a profit

We feel the market is receptive for redevelopment of some of those properties either by turning them into large luxury resort hotels or upscale condominiums

The company believes the timing was perfect for such projects because the supply of much oceanfront property is limited.

Doug Kosarek, Vice President, Ocean Waters DevelopmentFebruary, 2005

Daytona Beach MayorGlenn Ritchey

Principals Charles Bray and Joseph Gillespie were often seen in local balls rubbing elbows with Daytona Beach Mayor Glenn Ritchey and embattled City Commissioner Dwayne Taylor as well as the city's elite of political campaign donors that have financed the rise to power of the current pack of Commissioners.

Other developers wondered how B&G obtained approvals for what seemed like impossible developments due to the great density and lack of public spaces.

The rezonings gave tenfold returns without ever breaking ground, too great an inducement to just flip the properties to other developers instead of building the proposed projects themselves.

This strategy worked with fabulous results until now...

In another very publicized case, the City of Daytona Beach utilized its powers of Eminent Domain to seize the private properties of long time business owners along a segment of the beach. The parcels were then transferred to a partnership headed by developer and key campaign financer William Geary for a proposed $150 million development.

The partnership recipient of the seized land, is Boardwalk Convention Hotel Partners Ltd., headed by William Geary of Carlsberg Management Co. in Los Angeles.

Today, this land is an unsightly and barren open dirt field right in the heart of the beach district. The partnership was unable to flip the property and never started the planned development. Daytona Beach taxpayers are paying for the bonds used to finance the deal and crafted by city officials.

The Daytona Beach City Commission has been struggling faced with mounting criminal complaints for corruption, fraud, breach of public trust and abuse of powers. The State attorney, John Tanner was recently voted out of office largely for failing to investigate or prosecute the large number of corruption cases against Daytona Beach public officials. Tanner was strongly supported by the same special interests that have benefited with diverse lucrative contracts, funding of pet projects and personal hobbies, and overall preferential treatment by the City Commission.

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I have worked several times for the Ocean Waters group. They are really a bunch of losers.

What the news journal doesn't tell you, is that, prior to the hurricanes of '04, they only had about 7-8 properties in their collection. After the hurricanes hit, they took all the insurance settlement monies and gobbled up the mom and pop motels and paid outrageous prices for them, rather than taking the insurance money and fixing the initial property back up. Ocean Waters has been known to pay 3-8 times more than what a property was really worth. Yes, Ocean Waters, can't get credit with local vendors because the local vendors have been screwed many times out of payments for services received.

Now would be the time for the News Journal to print a story in reference to the 10 years that Ocean Waters has been doing business in the area, pull up all the lawsuits that have been served against them. Interview the actual employees, past and present, to tell you how that Ocean Waters are the ones responsible for making the wages in the area so low for the hospitality market, since they have a monopoly on most of the larger properties in the area. Why doesn't the News Journal do some investigation and look at the history of Bray and Gillespie before their arrival in Daytona and look how they screwed many other people, vendors, and banks in New Orleans.

Rumor has it, New Orleans kicked them out of the city and told them not to come back because they were not welcome. Have the News Journal pull up some of the inspections that have taken place on the properties that Ocean Waters own. They will find that some of the infractions were quietly swept under the rug and never fixed.

Why doesn't Volusia County report that the resort tax since the hurricanes of '04 has tremendously been reduced since the properties that Ocean Waters owned have either been torn down or still sitting empty. Those properties are not putting money into the coffers of the county. If you think back over the years, at some of the landmark properties that they own Laplaya (used to be a Best Western, but couldn't keep up with Best Western standards because they refused to put money into the upkeep of the property), Plaza Ocean Club (used to be a Radisson, once again, couldn't keep up with the standards of the franchise for Radisson), Mayan Inn (same rules apply that applied to LaPlaya), Bermuda House (used to be a Howard Johnson).

Now to speak of treatment and employee morale, that's another story in itself. We haven't gotten a raise in over 3 yrs. Look at how everything has doubled in price from 3 years ago. Here we are making a few cents more than minimum wages and putting in a full 40 hour week, and we are not surviving at all. We have to pay $5 per week for uniforms. They nickel and dime us anyway they can because its more money in their pocket to blow on frivolous items that they can't afford.

It's time for a change in Daytona, kick out Ocean Waters and bring in some new blood, do not let new investors come into this town and try to pull the wool over our city and county leaders and blow smoke up their wazoos.

First Tanner, then B&G... One by one the supporters of Daytona's corrupt politicians are falling. There must be a lot of scared politicians scrambling in City Hall. They can run but they can't hide, and there's no statute of limitations for criminal corruption and the paper trail is long.

"They" really are not so affected. Their CREDITORS are... They still collect salaries, bennies etc. The dummies they owe money to, though, are a different story. Also benefiting are the corrupt politicians that padded their fast profits during the heydays.

It's about time Chuck Bray & Joe Gillespie got what's coming to them. I'm glad, excited, and overjoyed they had to file Chapter 11. They screwed me out of $500k in real estate commissions and put me & my family through hell. In my personal opinion, they are the biggest dirt bags and scum in Central Florida. They deserve every bit of this. I hope they loose everything and have to beg on the street corner for food and money.

As a past General Manager of the Plaza I am sad to hear of the problems of Ocean Waters. Chuck and Joe had a great vision and plan for Daytona Beach. I have much respect for both men and was alwas treated well.

Chris Kehn is the most ruthless General Manager in the Hotel/Resort busness. His reputation as a womanizer is dead on and he will do ANYTHING to make a profit. I worked at the Plantation in Crystal River and witnessed him fire all the great employyes one by one and replace them w/ young bimbos. It sounds like he would be the perfect fit in Daytona. To this day he is not welcomed in Crystal River.

As a longtime large travel agency owner from Canada, I can tell you these properties are simply very poorly run and management is absent, even if there is a breathing human in the front office, believe me. Super 8 is crumbling right now! Daytona has LOST it's appeal for Canadians over the age of 22, and that is a huge segment, far bigger than any "event" since so many used to live here 4 or 5 months. The City should be tearing down all the crumbling hotels and billing the owners right now. Take a month, all equipment available, and truck it away. It is a crime to see this place so degraded. We are a family group of 58 regular visitors for the past 35 years, and WILL NOT be coming back anytime soon. Ever wonder why there are so few flights at the "International" airport here? NO demand and the airport is run in a substandard manner, to be kind.

These people are the scum of the earth. everything they do is for profit. The hotels are run down, full of mold, the rooms are out of the 70's. I know this because I currently work for them. $5 a pay period for two tee shirts and 2 pairs of pants that I have to clean. Health care that can be bought from Blue Cross for a cheaper price by an individual, they have turned there employees into sources of income. ON an on I can go but in these horrible times at least its a job

Although alot of the comments are true about the people of Ocean Waters the comment on Chris Kehn was unfair. I am a ex-employee of Ocean Waters Spa and worked for Chris. He is a caring person who was put into a very difficult situation. He treated employees with respect and in my opinion did did the best job of any of the many General Managers at the Plaza. I wish him well.

I gotta tell you the people and staff stink. Booked a room for a week for son going into the navey as going away vacation. They false advertised the rooms, charged for ocean front and gave ocean view, tryed to charge $200.00 security because he is under 25yrs old, reduced it to $80 after I spoke with them, false advertising: their ads state $100.00 deposite during spring break....Hmmm. Told us they didn't have to give us any room and to find another place...Hmm their all owned by same people. and much more sh..t from staff and didn't even check in yet. Don't exacly like being sworn at and told I don't have to talk to you. Guess I won't be bringing the party of 16 from Europe to Daytona Beach in September 09, looks like any other place else will do just fine.

Chuck never cared about any of his employees nor his guests that stayed in his hotels every year.. He was too busy partying at Lolipops and spending the money that he owed the vendors in the Vip rooms at lolipops. What a scum bag piece of shit

My grandmother is the original land trust owner I have a claim against the property I seek a law firm to represent my intrest in the property Boardwalk Convention Hotel Partners Ltd.beach land contact me if you can assist as my grandmother owns the land that was seized in a land trust she died my mom inherited her estate which i now own I have original paperwork and have not known who could help me contact me at eminentdomaine@yahoo.com

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